Cindy Crawford and family paid homage to her son, Presley Gerber, in their first public statements since his death at 27.
The supermodel and actor shared a smiling black-and-white portrait of Gerber along with a heartfelt message, writing, “We are beyond heartbroken to lose our beloved son and brother. We feel so blessed to have had Presley in our lives for 27 years.”
She continues, “He is a sweet, beautiful soul who loved and is loved, now and forever. We are so proud of how he showed up in the world, with kindness and vulnerability. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many who know and love our family and even strangers who feel our pain. Til we meet again our sweet boy. We love you forever, Mom, Dad and Kaia.”
Crawford concluded the post by thanking photographer Sebastián Faena for taking the image of Gerber, who appears to have angel wings.
Gerber, the brother of model Kaia Gerber and only son of Crawford and her husband, Rande Gerber, died Sept. 20 at a luxury rehab center called Resolutions Living in Santa Monica.
Kaia Gerber shared her own Instagram tribute honoring her late brother. In it, she shared a video of the two of them as children, with the caption “i love you the bluest, to the moon and back and back again, forever big brother.” The post also included a photo of the siblings as children on the beach.
In a lengthier essay included with the photo and video, she addressed the emptiness she’d felt in the weeks since her brother’s death.
“I am learning how to love you when I cannot see you. How to tell you something without picking up my phone to call you. How to be your sister in a world that I can’t reach for you in,” she wrote, adding, “I don’t know how to do that yet.”
Presley, who had been candid about his struggles with addiction and mental health during public appearances on his social media account, entered the Resolutions Living home on Sept. 19. The following morning, he was found dead of what police said was a drug overdose.
As of Sunday, the Santa Monica Police Department was still investigating the source of the drugs Gerber had taken.
An autopsy was performed, but the cause and manner of death have been deferred, “which means additional testing and/or studies were requested in order to make a determination,” according to a Sept. 21 statement from the Los Angeles County medical examiner. It could take a few months for a cause of death to be determined, the statement continued.
His death has sparked questions about how he could overdose on drugs inside the Resolutions Living home. The L.A. Times reported that the facility operates in a regulatory gray area and is not authorized to provide medical care.
The California Department of Health Services is investigating whether Resolutions Living was providing any services that would require a state license after receiving a complaint about the sober living home in September, according to department spokesperson Anthony Cava.
